About five years ago, Raghav Meattle was jumping around on stages across the country, fronting prog rock band The Uncertainty Principle. After a couple of transitions later – he was part of electro-acoustic/pop duo Meattle & Malik with producer Nikhil Malik and competed on singing competition The Stage 2 in 2017 – the singer looks back on it all as a learning experience. “If I hadn’t done that [The Uncertainty Principle], I wouldn’t know how to hustle and know everything that was going on. Plus, the concept of being a frontman of a band is definitely much harder.”

Originally part of the capital’s indie circuit, Meattle moved to Bengaluru and then to Mumbai in late 2016. “I quit my job but then I took up a part-time job in marketing. I took every gig I got, though.” The move sparked him to write “Better Than It All,” an earnest expression of uncertainty and excitement fed through his warm baritone. It’s his latest single from the upcoming debut album Songs from a Matchbox, which takes its name from how Meattle describes his room in Mumbai.

The marketing skills also proved helpful clearly, considering Meattle has now launched a crowdfunding campaign to record, release and promote the eight-track Songs from a Matchbox. “I’ve tracked all the songs on my laptop, but I want to go into the studio and think about what to do with the songs,” says Meattle about his goal to raise Rs 3.5 lakhs, which will go towards mixing, mastering, recording and music videos.

Working with producer Zain Calcuttawala (who also plays drums at Meattle’s shows), there’s a move away from softer songs (“I got bored of playing it,” the singer says) to “groovier, fuller” songs. Meattle adds, “I love seeing people dance and move at my gigs. I think it probably goes back to my time with The Uncertainty Principle.” Tracks like “Bar Talk” (an earlier single which grew out of the crowd indifference Meattle often faced while playing his solo sets), “Two Left Feet” and “Stood Up & Fried” move into an energetic space. There’s also a video for “Stood Up & Fried” ready to go, with more visual content in the works. Meattle adds, “I think nobody is listening to songs without music videos, so a lot of the crowdfunding money is for that as well. It’s a bit of a plunge for me.”

Watch the video for “Better Than It All” below. Contribute to Meattle’s crowdfunding campaign here.